Obama giving climate talks new urgency
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Obama administration made an urgent appeal on Monday for global commitments to address climate change, cautioning at an international conference here that the consequences that have hit the Arctic the hardest would soon engulf the world unless more was done to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
In a particularly striking warning, Secretary of State John Kerry said climate change — reflected by what he called “seismic changes” in temperatures and sea levels — could soon create waves of new refugees forced to abandon traditional homes or to fight for food and water.
“You think migration is a challenge to Europe today because of extremism, wait until you see what happens when there’s an absence of water, an absence of food or one tribe fighting against another for mere survival,” Kerry told more than 450 delegates at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in downtown Anchorage.
Kerry compared the scale of the challenge to World War II, when “all of Europe was overrun by evil and civilization itself seemed to be in peril,” and said world leaders needed to rise to the occasion to address it.
“The threat posed by climate change is entirely different in character but not in its global reach or its potential to do harm,” he said. “And the urgent need for global cooperation is the same.”
The conference assembled representatives of 20 nations, including seven foreign ministers, to draw attention to the effects that a warming climate has already had on the environment and the people in the Arctic.
President Obama arrived here Monday, opening a three-day visit where he hopes to bear witness to the changes.
The conference — and Obama’s visit — reflect a growing focus on the Arctic as the changing climate creates economic opportunities but also intensifies threats to the environment, to infrastructure and to old ways of life for the 4 million people who live above the Arctic Circle. The event was intended to provide momentum as countries consider commitments to reduce heattrapping emissions before a United Nations summit meeting in Paris in December.
Obama has pledged that the United States will cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025. After winning a similar pledge last year from China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the president hopes to reach what Kerry called “a truly ambitious and truly global climate agreement” at the Paris conference.
This year, the United States took over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council, which represents the eight nations with territory inside the Arctic Circle, but the administration used the conference to create a broader forum to discuss the issues facing the region. The conference included not only the members of the Arctic Council but also countries, like India, China and Singapore, that are looking at the economic opportunities.